Hi everyone!
I'm very new around here. My name's Najmie, from Malaysia. In my country, variety of cheeses are not very readily available everywhere. Most supermarkets only sell American cheese and probably cheddar. Very few stores have more than that.
So I decided to make my own!
But I have some curious questions before I start anything.
1. If I add additional cream to a hard cheese recipe, will the cheese still be hard at the end? Or if I remove cream (use skimmed milk 0.5% fat) to make a soft cheese, will it still be soft? What changes can I expect on the end product?
2. Will the milk curdle if I add the rennet before ripening the milk (i.e. no starter culture)?
3. Is there any difference if I add the starter culture to the curd, instead of to the milk?
4. What will happen if I decided not to ripen the milk at all? I just add the rennet to the milk, wait for it to curdle, then press the curd, drain off the whey, then let it age.
Ok for now, these questions only. But I'm sure I have much more to ask once I start!
Thank you!